Butterfly Dream: Light and Shadow Haiku by Peggy Willis Lyles

English Original

summer stillness
the play of light and shadow
on the wind chimes        

To Hear the Rain, 2002

Peggy Willis Lyles


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

夏天的寂靜
在風鈴上光與影
的嬉戲

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

夏天的寂静
在风铃上光与影
的嬉戏


Bio Sketch

Peggy Willis Lyles was born in Summerville, South Carolina, on September 17, 1939. She died in Tucker, Georgia on September 3, 2010. A former English professor, she was a leading haiku writer for over 30 years -- helping bring many readers and writers into the haiku community.

One Man's Maple Moon: Doctor's Office Tanka by Marilyn Humbert

English Original

waiting
I count wall tiles
in the doctor’s office
one breath hope
the next despair

Moonbathing, 17, 2018

Marilyn Humbert


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

等候看病
我計數醫生辦公室
的壁磚
吸一口氣，有希望
下一口氣，便是絕望

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

等候看病
我计数医生办公室
的壁砖
吸一口气，有希望
下一口气，便是绝望 


Bio Sketch

Marilyn Humbert lives in the Northern suburbs of Sydney NSW Australia. Her tanka and haiku appear in international and Australian journals, anthologies and online. Her free verse poems have been awarded prizes in competitions and some have been published.

A Room of My Own: Viral Demons Tanka

Ninety-Seventh Entry, Coronavirus Poetry Diary

possessed

by viral demons for weeks

my old friend

paints the walls black

and covers the windows

FYI:  More people calling mental health help line as pandemic drags on: callers dealing with anxiety, family stress, problems with drugs and alcohol (CBC News, July 28)

Added: Ninety-Eighth Entry:

meteor shower
peaking on this night
of the outbreak --
across my skylight
a glimmer of hope

Butterfly Dream: Peacock Haiku by Kirsten Cliff Elliot

English Original

cry of a peacock
I wake up fully clothed
in my pain

Pulse, August 15, 2014

Kirsten Cliff Elliot


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

孔雀的哭喊聲
我一覺醒來全身包裹
在痛苦之中

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

孔雀的哭喊聲
我一覺醒來全身包裹
在痛苦之中


Bio Sketch

Kirsten Cliff Elliot is a New Zealand poet and writer. She works in a high school library and is studying towards a BA in Information and Library Studies. Together with her husband, she blogs at Help! My husband has Asperger’s: Our life on the spectrum’s edge.

One Man's Maple Moon: Pine Dunes Tanka by H. Gene Murtha

English Original

brushing off sand
I walk what's left
of the pine dunes
my time here passes by
like the birds overhead

Ribbons, 5:2, 2009

H. Gene Murtha


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

掃除沙子後
我行走在松林沙丘
所剩之處
我的時間流逝
就像頭頂上的飛鳥

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

扫除沙子后
我行走在松林沙丘
所剩之处
我的时间流逝
就像头顶上的飞鸟


Bio Sketch

H. Gene Murtha, a naturalist and poet, sponsored and judged the first haiku contest for the inner city children of Camden, NJ., for the Virgilio Group, of which he was a lifetime member. He was widely published for his work in haikai literature from the USA to Japan.

Butterfly Dream: Half Moon Haiku by Joyce Budenberg

English Original

half moon
once again embracing
my shadow self

Joyce Budenberg


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

半月
再一次擁抱
陰影自我

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

半月
再一次拥抱
阴影自我


Bio Sketch

Born in Scotland, now living in New Zealand, Joyce Budenberg works as a counsellor/therapist and has a love of reading and writing haiku.

One Man's Maple Moon: Round Trip Ticket Tanka by Jane Reichhold

English Original

a round trip ticket
the shape of a navel
promises us
at the end of this life
we come back home

Ardea, 2, 2012

Jane Reichhold


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

一張雙程車票
像似肚臍的形狀
向我們保證
在生命旅程的盡頭
我們會回到家

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

一张双程车票
像似肚脐的形状
向我们保证
在生命旅程的尽头
我们会回到家


Bio Sketch

Jane Reichhold was born as Janet Styer in 1937 in Lima , Ohio , USA . She had published over thirty books of haiku, renga, tanka, and translations. Her latest tanka book, Taking Tanka Home was translated into Japanese by Aya Yuhki. Her most popular book is Basho The Complete Haiku by Kodansha International. As founder and editor of AHA Books, Jane also published Mirrors: International Haiku Forum, Geppo, for the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society, and she had co-edited with Werner Reichhold, Lynx for Linking Poets since 1992. Lynx went online in 2000 in AHApoetry.com the web site Jane started in 1995. Since 2006 she had maintained an online forum – AHAforum

Butterfly Dream: Weater Haiku by Fay Aoyagi

English Original

a hole in my sweater
I ask him one more time
what he meant

In Borrowed Shoes, 2006

Fay Aoyagi


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

我的毛衣有一個洞
我再一次地詢問
他是什麼意思

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

我的毛衣有一个洞
我再一次地询问
他是什么意思


Bio Sketch

Fay Aoyagi （青柳飛）was born in Tokyo and immigrated to the U.S. in 1982. She is currently a member of Haiku Society of America and Haiku Poets of Northern California. She serves as an associate editor of The Heron's Nest.  She also writes in Japanese and belongs to two Japanese haiku groups; Ten'I (天為) and "Aki"（秋), and  she is a member of Haijin Kyokai (俳人協会).

Butterfly Dream: Well-Thumbed Book Haiku by Neal Whitman

English Original

chemotherapy
photographs of the Taj Mahal
in a well-thumbed book

World Monument Fund Semi-Finalist, 2013

Neal Whitman


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

化學治療
一本精心編寫的書中
泰姬陵的照片

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

化学治疗
一本精心编写的书中
泰姬陵的照片 


Bio Sketch

Neal Whitman lives with his wife, Elaine, in Pacific Grove, California, where he is a docent at Point Pinos Lighthouse. Visitors who come there from near and far inspire him to write poetry that takes the “particular" to convey the “universal". Neal is Vice President of the United Haiku and Tanka Society.

A Room of My Own: Beirut Bride Tanka

a bride in white
poses for wedding photos
an explosion
ripping off the front of buildings ...
through the Beirut square

One Man's Maple Moon: A Little Rain Tanka by an'ya

English Original

a little rain fell
into my life this morning
and for a brief time
took your place until it too
simply evaporated

Streetlights, 2009

an'ya

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

一場小雨
今天早上進入我的生活
停留一會兒
並取代了我心中你的位置
直到它也消失不見了

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

一场小雨
今天早上进入我的生活
停留一会儿
并取代了我心中你的位置
直到它也消失不见了

Bio Sketch

an'ya is a haiku and tanka poet who has been published in over 60 foreign languages, and appeared in places and publications worldwide. If you would like to read more of her works and a complete biography, please visit http://tankaanya.com/

Poetic Musings: Full Moon Haiku by T. D. Ingram

the brightness

of the full moon

deepens the cold

Hiss of Leaves, 2012

T. D. Ingram

Commentary: Ingram’s effective use of cutting (through the fine choice of a verb phrase) and synesthesia make a successful shift from the physical/outer world (portrayed in a natural scene) to the mental/inner one (indicating the implied speaker’s state of mood). The contrasts between these two worlds are psychologically effective. This ichibutsu shitate (one-image/object/topic haiku) reminds me of one of Basho’s:

over the evening sea

the wild ducks' cry

is faintly white

FYI: For more information about ichibutsu shitate, see my "To the Lighthouse" post, Ichibutsu Shitate (One-Image/Object/Topic Haiku), and read the full text of my review of  Hiss of Leaves.

One Man's Maple Moon: Black Pearl Tanka by Pamela A. Babusci

English Original

inside her chest
all the accumulated
pain
of a black pearl
that once was her heart

Pamela A. Babusci


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

在她的胸腔內
一顆黑色珍珠
那曾經是她的心
累積了所有
的痛楚

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

在她的胸腔内
一颗黑色珍珠
那曾经是她的心
累积了所有
的痛楚


Bio Sketch

Pamela A. Babusci  is an internationally award winning haiku, tanka poet and haiga artist. Some of her awards include: Museum of Haiku Literature Award, International Tanka Splendor Awards, First Place Yellow Moon Competition (Aust) tanka category,  First Place Kokako Tanka Competition,(NZ) First Place Saigyo Tanka Awards (US), Basho Festival Haiku Contests (Japan).  Pamela has illustrated several books, including: Full Moon Tide: The Best of Tanka Splendor Awards, Taboo Haiku, Chasing the Sun, Take Five: Best Contemporary Tanka, and A Thousand Reasons 2009. Pamela was the founder and now is the solo Editor of Moonbathing: a journal of women’s tanka; the first all women’s tanka journal in the US.

Butterfly Dream: Inchworm Haiku by Larry Kimmel

English Original

inch by inch
the inchworm goes
by the book

tinywords, 17:1, 6 July 2017

Larry Kimmel


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

一步接一步
一隻毛毛蟲在書上
爬行

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

一步接一步
一只毛毛虫在书上
爬行


Bio Sketch

Larry Kimmel lives quietly in the hills of western Massachusetts.  His most recent books  are shards and dust (cherita), outer edges (tanka) and thunder and apple blossoms (haiku).

One Man's Maple Moon: Toy Box Tanka by Shuji Terayama

English Original

birds banished
from the sky,
time, beasts
all collected here
in my arc-like toy box

Kaleidoscope, 2007

Shuji Terayama


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

天空中
被放逐的鳥，
時間，野獸
全部收集在我的
弧形玩具盒中

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

天空中
被放逐的鸟，
时间，野兽
全部收集在我的
弧形玩具盒中


Bio Sketch

The avant-garde stage and film director, poet, critic, author and founder of the experimental theater group Tenjo Sajiki, Shuji Terayama was born in 1935 in Aomori, Japan. He started writing tanka in his late teens and received the Tanka Kenkyu Award for Emerging Poets. He published several tanka collections before he stopped writing at the age of 30. Many of his tanka read more like scenes from a movie scene or short story. He died in 1983. The first English language collection of his tanka, Kaleidoscope, was published by The Hokuseido Press in 2008 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of  his death.